CAPT Harold “Hal” Fitzgerald Crain

Familial History

CAPT Harold “Hal” Fitzgerald Crain was born 12 September 1918 in Manhattan, New York City, New York to Emma Cornelia “Lily” Best and Harold “Hal” Davisson Crain. He died 25 December 1944 when the SS Leopoldville was sunk by the German U-486 about 5 miles from the coast of France. His family resided in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California prior to the war.

Hal married Evelyne Gottschalk 4 May 1943 in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. She was born 22 March 1921 in New York City, New York to Emma Elsa Ermen and Frederic C. Gottschalk. She died 17 July 2002 in Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland. Their union produced 1 son.

Emma Cornelia “Lily” Best was born 12 August 1888 in Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York to Emma R. Best. She passed away 1 November 1969 in New York.

Harold “Hal” Davisson Crain was born 10 September 1891 in Kansas. He died 31 May 1964 in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California. Hal married Emma 8 December 1917 in Manhattan, New York City.

The Crain union produced 3 sons. Their names are listed in chronological order with corresponding birth and death dates: CAPT Harold “Hal” Fitzgerald Crain; T/5 John Thomas Crain, Sr. (14 September 1924-6 June 1979); and Francis Drummond Crain (15 June 1930-14 July 1980).

T/5 John Thomas Crain, Sr. served his country in the US Army during World War II.

Francis Drummond Crain served his country in the US Army

Service History:

After graduation from West Point, CAPT Hal Fitzgerald Crain he was attached to F Company, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 66th Infantry Division, US Army and his Service Number was O-025674.

The 66th was activated 15 April 1943 in Camp Blanding, Florida and later transferred to Camp Robinson, Arkansas. They completed the regiment during field training. The Division were sent to Camp Rucker, Alabama for transport to the European Theatre of Operations. They arrived on 12 December 1944 and trained until 24 December 1944, when they were ordered as replacements. They boarded two Belgian steamships, the Chesire and the Leopoldville.

He was aboard the troopship SS Leopoldville when it was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel on Christmas Day 25 December 1944. Prior to the conflict, the SS Leopoldville was a Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo passenger liner. The German submarine U-486 was credited with the sinking. As a result, 763 soldiers died and 56 of the Leopoldville’s crew.

The ship sailed from Southampton, England to Cherbourg, France as part of the WEP-3 convoy. The loading of the 2,223 reinforcements from the 262nd and 264th Regiments was chaotic. The troopships were not loaded by Regiment and many of the officers were not present. The instructions for abandoning ship, use of life savers, and supervised lifeboat drills were minimal at best. The abandon ship order was given in Flemish rather than English.

The original explosion was in Cargo Hold 4 which flooded E-4, F-4, and G-4 compartments. An estimated 300 men were killed by the blast and flooded holds. The English Channel was experiencing swells of 8 feet to 12 feet in height which hampered UMS Brilliant’s attempts to rescue soldiers on ship and in the water. 493 bodies of the 763 casualties were never recovered from the 48 degree waters.

Capt. Crain, from California, was a West Point Military Academy graduate in the January 1943 class. As the result of efforts by Leopoldville survivor, Walter T. Brown, Capt. Crain was posthumously awarded the Silver Star on March 31, 1997. His Silver Star was donated to the National Infantry Museum, Ft. Benning, Georgia. The body of Capt. Crain was never found.

Silver Star Citation SYNOPSIS:

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier's Medal to Captain (Infantry) Hal Fitzgerald Crain (ASN: 0-13284), United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy as Commanding Officer, Company F, 2d Battalion, 262d Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, following the sinking of the LEOPOLDVILLE on 24 December 1944. Captain Crain knelt at the top of a ladder, pulling soldiers up onto the deck. As he did so, he asked each man if he had seen anyone from Company F. When no more soldiers emerged, Captain Crain headed down the ladder without any hesitation to the compartments below in search of his men, probing Compartment E-4 without success. Struggling against the oily water in the deep darkness of the demolished blocks, Captain Crain saved man after man, plunging into the flooded compartments. He was later observed on a ladder, this time with water up to his chest and with waves breaking over his head. Captain Crain gave his own life jacket to another and saved many men from the sinking ship from death, and in so doing, lost his own life.”

CAPT Hal Fitzgerald Crain was memorialized in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. His Plot was the Tablets of the Missing, and the Memorial # 56643543.

Commendations:

Purple Heart

Stories Behind the Stars:

Thank you, CAPT Hal Fitzgerald Crain of the US Army, for your sacrifice and service to our country.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII Fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’ s name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you can contact the author, Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by”.

The author is Dr. Jack W. Chisum, and the email is jchisum@q.com.

Resources:

Photos of Victims U-Z - Leopoldville Troopship Disaster

SS Léopoldville (1928) - Wikipedia

SS Leopoldville - Picture - Image - Photo (shipwreckworld.com)

Memorials in Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - Find a Grave

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - Wikipedia

CAPT Hal Fitzgerald Crain (1918-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial

Hal F Crain : Captain from California, World War II Casualty (honorstates.org)

Hal F. Crain | American Battle Monuments Commission (abmc.gov)

Crain Hal F. | WW2 Research

CRAIN Hal F - 262 IR 66 ID (database-memoire.eu)

Hal F. Crain (American) - Crew lists of Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net